Life Happens
by Daelena
Summary: Ianto Jones knew he was going to die . . . but one can never tell when the Doctor is going to show up and change things. First of the "Immortal Janto" series.


Life Happens

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood, as much as I would like to._

_Summary:__ Ianto Jones knew he was going to die . . . but one can never tell when the Doctor is going to show up and change things._

_Yep, this is my take on how the Torchwood show-runners can bring back Ianto Jones, though that would take considerable ret-conning of Doctor Who and involve bringing back David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. In the canon of my story, Ten hasn't regenerated yet, due to the fact that he was able to save Wilfred without getting injected with a lethal dose of radioactive material._

_Anyway children, feast on my attempts to revive Ianto Jones._

There were certain things that Ianto Jones took knew would happen to him. Dying was one of them.

Leaving behind loved ones when he did die was another.

It was only worse when said loved one included a dashingly handsome and charming man who cannot die. At least, that's how Ianto felt whenever he contemplated his own mortality. He had resigned himself (when he first fell in love with Jack) that, eventually, he would die and Jack would move on and love someone else just as he had loved Ianto. After a while, that thought didn't bother Ianto as much as it initially had.

Jack was the kind of man who, when he loved someone, loved them with his whole heart and whole being. Ianto loved Jack and he knew that Jack loved him in return. So, it didn't hurt as much, knowing that one day he would die, because Jack would still love him, in his own way, long after he was dead and gone.

When his death was imminent, at the hands of the 456s, Ianto was sad, as anyone would be in the face of their death, but strangely at peace, despite only having a short time with the love of his life.

Which meant that he was oddly disoriented when he bolted upright – awake and alive – from cool metal grating in a very, _very_ odd room that he was absolutely sure was neither Heaven nor Hell.

And the tall, thin man in a suit and Converses crouching in front of him, grinning like a madman or a child at Christmas was the last person he expected to see there. Ianto recognized him instantly. It was hard not to, especially when one was in a committed relationship with (and also worked with) Captain Jack Harkness.

"Hello, Ianto," the Doctor said, tilting his head to the side. "It's about time you woke up."

Ianto drew in a deep, if gasping breath. "What? What happened?"

"Well . . . you died."

"I knew that."

"Right, of course you did." The Doctor stood up and helped him climb to his feet, albeit a little slowly and stiffly. "You're smart. That's one reason Jack loves you so much." Ianto's heart gave a flip-flop at the very mention of Jack. His face must have shown that emotion because the Doctor drew a sharp breath. "The thing is, Jack thinks you're dead."

Ianto opened his mouth to say something but the Doctor raised a hand to silence him.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. I'm so sorry, but he has to keep thinking you're dead, at least for the time being, Ianto. I wish there was another way, but there isn't."

He felt like his world just got tugged out from underneath his feet – again. Ianto stumbled around the very weird control panel and collapsed onto the cushioned chairs that sat by the circular panel and the long column.

"Why?"

It was a simple enough question, honestly asked. Ianto looked to the Doctor and saw the enormously sad look on his face. There was grief, deep grief, for lost life, lost love in his eyes. Ianto finally understood what Jack meant about the depth of Time Lord emotion because the young Welshman wanted nothing more than to help this old time traveler.

"Because his role in the future of Earth in the next few years depends heavily on his belief that you are dead."

"Aren't I? Dead, I mean?" He looked down at himself and saw what he was wearing – really wearing – for the first time since he woke up. He had to smile at the irony of the situation. Ianto Jones was wearing funeral clothes.

The Doctor came over and sat on the cushion next to him. "You were, for a while, but then you came back."

"How?" The questions were never-ending today.

The chuckled he earned from the Doctor was light, humorous, encouraging.

"It seems as though the Time Vortex can be passed between people a lot easier than I thought it could." It was Ianto's turn to tilt his head to the side quizzically. The Doctor elaborated. "Jack was mortal – once – and he died, nobly might I add. But he was brought back by a friend, a friend who had looked into the Heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex into herself. It took my last regeneration's life in order to get the Vortex out of her." Here, the Doctor smiled, if more faintly than before. "But, you see, the easiest way to pass the Vortex between people is through intimate encounters, a kiss maybe."

The innuendo was there, subtle, but still there. Ianto had been with Jack long enough to be quite good at picking up on those.

"I don't understand," Ianto stated. "How does this apply to me?"

The Doctor nodded, understanding. He leaned back a bit. "Jack has had some of the Vortex inside of him ever since then. That's the part of him that makes him immortal. It remained dormant, for the most part. Problem is, the Rift activity seems to have aggravated that little piece of him, so when you two consummate your relationship, well . . . let's just say, that the Vortex decided that you would make a lovely home as well."

It hit Ianto like a ton of bricks. "I'm immortal?"

"Yes, you are."

"But why didn't I come back as quick as Jack normally does? They buried me!"

Wincing, the Doctor gave him a look. "Yeah, your first death was what triggered the Vortex to revive your body. Apparently, it took Jack a lot longer than normal to revive after his first death. The shorter periods come with practice, he told me. Anyway, the piece of the Vortex in you is very small, small that what's in Jack, so it'll take longer for you to revive."

"How did you know to come and find me?"

"Because I looked into Jack's future. After Donna . . ."

The Doctor trailed off into his thoughts. Ianto realized that, whoever this Donna was, she was very important to the Doctor and that whatever had happened to her had made the Doctor very sad.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, for Donna."

"No, it's alright. Donna's alive. She just doesn't remember me, remember anything outside her own little world, and it has to stay that way, for her own sake and safety." Sorrow clouded the Doctor's face for a moment, before clearing. "As I was saying, I looked into the futures of a few friends, Jack being one of them, and I saw him, with you, centuries from now, happily exploring the galaxy. You lot were off on your honeymoon, though which one, I still haven't figured out." Ianto raised a surprised eyebrow at this. "You and Jack will get married, multiple times apparently."

"You knew I would die, then?"

Here, the Doctor clasped his shoulder. "Yep. When I dropped in on you and Jack, you – the future you, that is – told me what would happen and that I would have to look after you for the first few years of your immortality, because Jack would be too busy saving the world and he couldn't get distracted by you while he was doing it."

"So now what?"

"You get to travel with me," the Doctor said, astutely. "I've been told that I need someone to keep me in line and you come with some high recommendations."

Ianto looked around at, what he now realized, was the control room of the Doctor's TARDIS. He had heard about some of Jack's travels and adventures with the Doctor. It all seemed too much for him to take in. But Ianto Jones is a logical person, so, given the (sketchy) facts that the Doctor has just thrown his way, he makes the only choice that he could possibly make, given the situation.

"Well, if I've got nothing better to do for the next few years, I might as well."

The Doctor smiles. "Brilliant!"

_So, what do you think? Let me know!_


End file.
